It’s in our blind trust that love will find us

"For me to believe is to fling myself into the darkness of the night, following a star I once saw though I do not know where it will take me... to believe is to trust God and place my hope in him."

Gospel text (Mt 4,18-22):
As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers,
Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew,
casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen.
He said to them,
"Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men."
At once they left their nets and followed him.
He walked along from there and saw two other brothers,
James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets.
He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father
and followed him.

If someone that you have never met or even seen came up to you and told you to follow them, would you listen? Would you trust the stranger or would you simply ignore them and move on with your daily routine? Today’s popular Gospel reading from Matthew looks at the trusting relationship that Jesus has with his followers, his people who put all of their faith in the stranger, the unknown. Why is it that these fishermen decide to drop their nets and follow Jesus?

This Gospel revolves upon the value of trust. Trusting in someone can often be hard to do. For some, trusting comes easy. In today’s Gospel, Peter and Andrew, and then later James and John decide to immediately drop their nets and follow Jesus after he says, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men”. They trusted in him and had no second thoughts about following Jesus.

I would have a difficult time trusting someone that I have never met. Trusting in strangers is something that I continue to struggle with and believe I will always struggle with because I was brought up to not trust in people I don't know. However, the fishermen did not say ‘no’ or ‘I do not trust you’; rather, their actions reflected their trust in this man.

Trust. How do you trust the stranger? Are you able to put your faith in Jesus just as the fishermen did in today’s Gospel? Are you willing to drop your nets or whatever you are doing to follow and put your trust in Jesus?

Today, let us reflect on our trust in God, who loves us personally.